Somerville Woman Opens Restaurant in Malden

Somerville resident Hsiu-yin Lee recently opened Mandarin Malden, a Chinese restaurant with Taiwanese-style cuisine.

On Friday, Dec. 20, Lee opened the doors to Mandarin Malden, 74 Pleasant St., to customers. Following a ribbon-cutting ceremony with Mayor Gary Christenson, Ward 3 City Councillor John Matheson and others, restaurant goers got to grab a plate and sample 10 types of food, including chicken fingers, boneless spare ribs, crab rangoon and General Tso's chicken.  

During the grand opening held that day, Malden Patch spoke briefly with Lee to find out more about her restaurant.

MP: How long has Mandarin Malden been in the works?
HL: "About seven months. We got city approval in the springtime. We started remodeling in May and it (took) a long time."

MP: How many employees do you have?
HL: "We have about 10."

MP: How many seats do you have at the restaurant?
HL: "We have 48 seats."

MP: What is the square footage here?
HL: "Two thousand square feet."

MP: Why did you choose this location to open a restaurant?
HL: "Because for Taiwanese food, most Chinese like it and there are a lot of Chinese people in Malden."

MP: Had you looked at other towns when deciding where to open the restaurant?
HL: "Oh yeah...we looked all around Boston."

MP: What do you think about opening a restaurant in Malden?
HL: "This is my husband's dream. We've been working so hard. We spent a lot of time and money getting the restaurant ready but finally we're open. We're the first Taiwanese restaurant in Malden."

MP: What are your thoughts about the city having a ribbon-cutting ceremony today?
HL: "I think the city helped me a lot. (Strategy and Business Development Officer) Kevin Duffy and others helped me out and were saying we should have the Mayor (Gary Christenson) here for a ribbon cutting so we did. It's been great."

MP: How many people would you say have visited the restaurant so far today?
HL: "We've probably already had about 40 or 50 people come in and try out the food."

MP: Do you have a favorite dish that you serve here?
HL: "We have a lot (of dishes) so it's hard to say. We have probably over 100. We also have daily specials...like today we have lobster."

MP: What are your hours going to be starting out?
HL: "We'll be open Sunday through Thursday 11:30 (a.m.) to 10 (p.m.), and Friday and Saturday from 11:30 (a.m.) to 11 (p.m.)."

MP: What is your hope for the restaurant this year?
HL: "We hope to have a good business, and we want people to get to know us."

For more information, call Mandarin Malden at 781-324-1148.